Sheet sorting mechanism



5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 9, 1949. c. USCHMANN ET AL I SHEET SORTING MECHANISM Filed -April 16, 1945 1949- c. USCHMANN ET AL 2,478,610

I SHEET SORTING MECHANISM FiledfApril 16, 1945 "5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ji q. 3.

INV NTOR. Curt" USC mazzn. Elmer H. Jacobson I A1TORNEYS A g- 9, 19 c. USCHMANN ET AL 2,473,610

SHEET SORTING MECHANISM Filed April 16, 1945 5 snets sneet 5 k INVENTOR.

C an Zl-sclzm an n ElmerH Jacqbson Tram/245 Aug. 9, 1949. c. USCHMANN ET AL SHEET SORTING MECHANISM 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 16, 1945 nu Rm mm m aka 5 m u M Q H m r 1 Ce .7 w A Patented Aug. 9, 1949 GuntUschmann, and, Elmer H,. Jacobson, Lebanqh Greg assignors to Qascades Plywood CorporatiQILPOlflEHld Oregg, a corporation ofllelaware AphlicationApnil: 11 1 Serial No....58.8',6 fi

. I 7 Veneer, on being; peeled from. the 10s,. is. can. riect along a: green: chain; past a-clipper, where-it isout into widths which are? approximately, four feet; on if it contains defects these are out out, resulting; innarrowen pieces As thelogispeeled, the- Veneer is; comnosedl of sapwood and heart wood, and it is desirable tQ-segregate. these types of wood, as. wellcaswide heart. pieces andnarrow heart pieces, and; in. addition to. segregate all such, usable sheets from the reject sheets. which.

are. clippedout. Thissorting. asto grade, kind,

and. width requires, under. present. practices, the services of a numben oi individuals stationed,

alone. the. run. of the greenchaih, whose duty it is, to select. and. segregate, the, diff ent kinds and widths of, veneer, and. to stack. it for fur-. ther treatment. A'Ilthat, is not thus selectedand segregated by the. time the veneer reaches the end of't'he green chain is delivered into. hoppers asreject veneen and eventually, is burned or otherwise disposedof. Since the veneer is traveling at fairly high-'speed it is not possible to correctly evaluate all'piecesas they pass alongand moreover, as the operators become tired, particularly toward the end of the day, it is in- .evidable that an appreciable quantity of usable veneer-isnot 'sortedoutbutis-left to run on to the reject hopper; Appreci'able loss-thus occurs in a material which presently is in very scarce supply, and under any circumstances there is an unwarranted waste. of" an important. natural resource.

It. is a general object of this invention. to pro! vid'e mechanism for handling and: sorting such veneer which. will: simplify the; proper sorting; and: which will:prevent'suchzloss More particularlyx it; is an: object. to prevent such loss by insuring that all: veneer will; be directed primarily to one or -the other: of several collecting places for-usahleveneer, sothat a positivechoice is. necessary. before; any-sheet can be directed to thereject. depository.. Thus positive rather. than passive rejection; is. require Also, and-more particularly, it; is an object to simplify the sorting by effecting the sorting mechanically, under controlof. an, operator, and

by thus simplifying'the,sortingto make it possible to effect the sorting with a. minimum use erators. In so doingafurther object is attained, namely uniformity of grading, for; all grading 7; Claims. (01. zit-4i) of manpower. and theminimum number of ont 2. narrow heart selections will not accumu ate at the same rate; as the: sap, veneer. accumulates,

nor will there be thesame quantity or-the same rate of, accumulationof wide heartveneer as of narrow heart-veneer. I t isa, further object of the. invention to; enable thfllll, loading. f a ve.-.- hicl with ne sel ct on. o veneer; a e grade or one kind, regardless of the, rateota.c-..

cumulation of other, grades O 1 and. the re-. moval of such vehicle when;.-filled, and the de-.

v y of the, samekind r erode. o another vehicle, without, any interruption whatsoever in the operation, of. the sorting, mechanism. A

This invention wil1-,-b.e illustrated inanpara tus which is. suitable, t'olthe', end intended, and. to, ca ry ou he method. whichoonstitutes part o the invention, and in. the. disclo ur of th s app tus various other d ails and. o ectives. w ll become apparent.

In the accompanying drawings the invention has be n shown a torn; which is at present the preferred form, but it will be. understood that. various. changes and mod fications may be made. with n. the-scope of. the invention, as. here inafter. disclosed and. claimed witho t. epart in from the. spirit-and int. 11 of thein ntion.

i ur 1 iso eeneral. 'deelevo lon as indicated y the line I-l; o1? andliieu e s a n ral pla view oit ieniaoh ne- Figure. is a s de elev ion a d. Fi ure .a plan. vi the. ne al. ex en of thes vi ws bein indicated y thelinei-3. lon s de Figure Fi u 5 s elevat on. endEieure. 6. a p n v w, Wit par s. ken awanillustrafine a. co tinuation of Fi ures 3 and L-resp otive1y. the ext of ese. v ews being. indicated by the line 5j5 a1onesid Fig re Referring first. to F ur s 1* nd 2,. the supply c nv y r. may he. a continuation. of. th chain which bears. the, veneer toand past the clipper, but p eferably it i an exte ion. th re f onerati at a somewhathle errat oisneed It bears all veneer sheets from. a s pply pointer sour as d signated nEieure Ltd a re e t. d p sitor not. shownhut the apprqximatelocation ofwhich is. there indicated, provided. of. course that. the

.s eets are not interce ted. betw en these oints,

as norma y they wi l be, In addition. to the r iect. deposit ry there re. several. rece vin plat.- f.or .s, r hutes, which may be. in a l. e e t a spects alike, and which. have thereio're b re resented y-the numeral. 3- .To distin uish them the. several rec iving platf rms are desisna d WH for. Wide. heart, iornarrow h art, and for sen Ereierah y the several receivin platforms 3 are in the form of off-bearing conveyors, such as live rolls, arranged to convey sheets which are deposited upon them oil to one side or the other of the supply conveyor I, and they operate at a speed materially greater than the speed of advance of the supply conveyor I. They are conveniently located above the latter. Associated with the generally aligned series of receiving platforms 3 is a series of conveyor means, which are substantially alike and which are designated generally by the numeral 4. For the purpose of distinguishing the several sections of the conveyor 4, or the several elements thereof, these too may be designated by the letters WH, NH, and T, the latter indicating a transfer section which precedes the first receiving platform. For reasons which will-shortly appear, it is not necessary that there be a conveyor element disposed above the sap section S, similarly as the other sections are disposed above their respective platforms at the stations NH and WH, The conveyor means 4 conveniently lie generallyabove the receiving platforms 3.

There is also a switch element 2 which is associated with the supply conveyor I, and which, e

being in advance of all of the conveyor sections 4, is normally disposed inclined upwardly from the supply conveyor l in thesense of the advance, to intercept all sheets oncoming along the supply conveyor, and to deliver them as they advance to the conveyor means 4. The switch element 2 is preferably in the form of a conveyor. It may be moved into an inoperative or open position so that, functioning as a switch, it will permit a sheet, advancing along the supply chain, to pass undeflected beneath the first conveyor means 4, and thus to be carried along the supply chain to the reject depository. The normal position of the switch element 2, however, is inclined upwardly, as shown in Figure 1, and it so remains except as and while it is positively shifted into nondefiecting position.

It is desirable that the conveyor element 4 operate at a speed which is intermediate the higher speed of the off-bearing conveyors 3 and the relatively lower speed of the supply chain I. In similar fashion the switch element 2 may operate as a conveyor at a speed which is intermediate that of the elements 4 and the conveyor i. For example, if the clipper chain operates at speed of 135 feet per minute, the supply chain i may operate at a rate of 160 feet per minute, the switch conveyor 2 at a speed of 200 feet per minute, the conveyor means 4 at a speed of 250 feet per minute, and the off-bearing conveyors 3 at a speed of 350 feet per minute. The result is, there is a progressive widening of the gaps between clipped sheets as they follow one another, and by the time a sheet reaches the off-bearing conveyor 3, it is sufficiently in advance of the following sheet that, even though the following sheet is delivered to the same off-bearing conveyor, the preceding sheet will have been moved endwise out of the way before the following sheet is delivered thereto. It has been attempted to show the relative speeds of the several conveyors graphically by the relative sizes of the arrows which indicate their sense of feed. It will be noted, in Figure 2, that dash line arrows have been shown leading to the left of the sense of feed through the machine at the WI-I, NH, and S stations, in addition to the full line arrows leading off to the right from the sense of the advance. The purpose of this is to indicate that the sense of rotation of the rolls constituting the reference to Figures 3 to 6, inclusive.

off-bearing conveyors can be reversed, so that when a vehicle receiving any given grade at one side of a given station is loaded, the rolls, at this station only, can be reversed to feed to a vehicle already located at the opposite side of the machine, to the end that there be no interruption in the operation of the device.

In addition to the switch means at 2, each of the conveyor elements 4 is or has associated with it a similar switch means, except that the transfer section T need not be so arranged. Thus, as is indicated in dash lines, the WH section 4 may be either in its normal aligned position, with respect to the T section 4, thereby to pass all sheets over and through the section WH without delivery to the platform 3, or this WH section 4 may be raised as indicated in dash lines, to deflect a sheet onto the WH platform 3. Similarly, the normal position of the NH section 4 is down in alignment with the WH section 4, so that all sheets will normally pass through and beyond the NH station and -be delivered to the S station. However, if it is desired to divert a sheet to the NH platform 3, the NH conveyor 4 may be raised as a switch, and the sheet is then deflected and delivered, as it leaves the end of the WH conveyor 4, upon the NH platform 3.

The normal operation, then, is to deliver the sheets along the supply chain I, where they first meet the upwardly inclined switch element 2, passing thence to the T section 4, and finally, if not selected and switched off prior to reaching the S section 3, they are delivered to the latter. Any reject piece is initially and finally segregated by dropping the rear end of the switch means 2 to or below the level of the upper run of the supply conveyor I, and such reject piece passes beneath the forward end of the T section 4 and on to the reject depository. The operator then permits the switch means 2 to rise into alignment with the T section 4, and byproper manipulation of the controls for the WH and NH sections 4, he accomplishes delivery of each sheet (which becomes well separated from the following sheet due to the different successive rates of advance) into any one of these sections, including the S section, where it is immediately carried out to one side or the other, assuming the receiving platforms to be formed by live rolls.

Given the general arrangement and the method of operation, as above, the structural details may vary considerably, and in themselves are of lesser importance. They are best understood by The supply conveyor I is in the form of spaced belts extending around pulleys I0 upon a shaft Il, carried in a suitable frame. A belt tightener is indicated at I2 (see Figure 3). Drive means are not indicated for this conveyor, but may be any which common practice indicates as suitable. The switch means, generally designated by the numeral 2, comprises a series of belts mounted upon pulleys 20 and 2|, the latter of which are carried at the swinging upper end of arms 22.

These arms 22 may be raised or lowered by means of an air cylinder 24 or similar power means operating through an arm or arms 25 upon the rock-shaft 23, and connected in turn to arms 22 [by links 25. The air cylinder 24 is so arranged that the switch element. 2 is at all times in upraised position, except when the air cylinder is energized to depress it flush with or below the level of the supply conveyor I, as shown in dash lines in Figure 3. Such a control may be inistreamer;

of adr'ivechain fi ifroi'n a motor v V The WH and NH sec'tioIis'fd are identical in construction to "the T section t already de-- ribed,

except-un eash pivo'ied about its rearpi-yct 4 I see Figures '5 arm- 6) smear its forward-edge may *rise from' 'a'norlmal' pojsition in alignment Withthe conveyor section just ahead of itftoj'a position above that level such thatoncom'ing sheets vii-1 be deflected below it and cm thee-ir- I bearing conveyor 3. To this end an aircyfiri der' 45 mounted upon the main frame F is" contrieewmgmsena or the harn ss taraise it as and when necessary; Th ooiltl'ol' for the several cylinders *45 may be by nieansof the""buttohs 'nhisee Figure 4); The sectiondrops back'tdhormai down position when the control blit'ton is released. The individual drive or each w ihe'sections dfis' delivered to it's see -e r t The live'rolls 3"lof' eao'lrindiiridual err-bearing conveyor are'ccnn'ectedrby chains sate-drive -'al l in one sense or in the other, and e ch-section isfl-independently driven by its motor 35 "and chain 32f Reversal of the'direction of rotation orthe motor 3'! is accomplished by'means'of control buttons (not shown) corresponding "to the'"bfit tons nh'ahd wh; ekceptithat there will be further buttons to-coritrol'the"direction of rotation of the rolls at the station S. i

It will be evident 'also'that in. some instances the -'switch elements and the contrels therefor may be actuated, not through thesnter osinen of human judgment'but automatically under the influence of a characteristic of the sheet being handled, as for instance itsw'idth, or its length, or its w'eig-ht, or some other chatacteristic hence when suoh switch elemehts a "said to be movable "under control it is only i' Cd thatth'e control is manual or automatic; arid-shay lee-either.

The off=bearing cenveyrs' 3 are genera-31 barallel and transverse to' the direction of advanceof the supply conveyor i; which adyanees alone a straight dine; If, however, the- 'sup-ely conveyor 5 should be directed along a curved path, for example, the off-bearing conveyors might still be generally parallel, not in the strict geometrical sense, but rather in the sense that each leads away from the supply conveyor. If the latter is arcuate the cit-bearing conveyors might radiate from the latter, and still be considered parallel to one another within the meaning given to such term as used herein. Instead of conveying means, there may be only platforms, or chutes, to receive the sheets.

Useful as is the sorting assembly herein described in handling and sorting veneer it will be evident that the same may be used forthe sorting and handling of various types of matedsii'ed by the use" aort the assembly tosthe e'etso1any Thesheets inay hem-1g ahd'-narrow orlong and wide, in fact; square, or they -=rnay be of o-regular size. Th y may be a eieceef veneer, apiece-ensued meta-'1; a: panel o'ffil Wood; To!" anymatriai: s anner-even assent "es r be thu's'handl'e'dand-sorted While the in'e ispriinariIy-intencied and best adaidtdt Handle thin veneersheetsf it may handle all such are vices as indicated above; b'yproperdesi'g n', and indeed may hahdl'ematerial's haviii'gahbreciabl or even irregular "dentin vertically.

Primarily, and 'asnow will be clar 'the-shtsgl by" tvh'ih teen-gs intended to induce the -1'n'a-' tensile-indicated above; are primarily nur hially deflected 3 esuliply conveyor and I re conveyed to a receiving platform or' conveyor where, if not sorted into a different gra'elfall are-delivered into ;a-- usablegrade; Conscious selection and positive action is-necessary to send 'any'pie'ce to the reject depository." S-i'r'ni r157, in'the refrredarrangement; co'ns and positive action'is' requiredo d. iver any piece to a receiving 1 platform other the final one? we claim he nor intention: 1. A slice sortin'g assembiyeomerisinsa chives supery conveycrextendine unrated-s rees em a supply 'sourcetc-arejectdepository; a switch element b i'asedf and for return- 11 a -canal session-wherein it isupWardIyinch jedi'rorn said sunny c nveyor, to intercept and "d-ive'rtall s'heetsasth'ey' advance: means to'deio'ress 'said switch -e1ement,- undej'co'ntrol, to p'errnit reject sheets to continue along said supply conveyor tcthereject depository; a 'seriefs'o'fhli'gned coirve'yor means normally disposed to receive in. suc

ces'si'onsheets from'sai-d switch element, for con- 'veyarrceastthe" enact last s'uch' mea s toe final receiving s'tati'on; and means; operable under control to elevate theadvahcedendo'f any se cted" conveyor means out of al nment with the-preceding such-means; re divert downvvardly anoncoming. sheet to a-rec'eivingstati'oh beneath the thuswaited conveyor 25 A sheet-sorting assemblycomprising a driven suppiyconveyor extending 'uninterruptedlyrrem sorely; source to areject depository; a switch elemeiitbiasedinto and for-returntora normal position-wherein it is ufiwardlyinclinfe'd from "said" supply conveyor, to intercept and divert'a'll sheets as" they advance; "means to depress said switcneremem; under' control, to" permirreject sheetsito n minee: aloh'gsaid sentry conveyor to ther'eject defiository 'a transfer *ccnveyorangnea with ahd"receivingsheets hem-said: switch elemeet; a senes of conveyor means: normally aiigrieu'eaenwrthan ctrierseeh'means, and With the cit-feeding end of said transfer conveyor, to

7 receive in succession sheets from said transfer supply conveyor extending uninterruptedly from a supply source to a reject depository; a switch conveyor driven at a more rapid rate than said supply conveyor, biased into and for return to a normal position wherein it is upwardly inclined from said supply conveyor, to intercept and divert all sheets as they advance; means to depress said switch conveyor, under control, to permit reject sheets to continue along said supply conveyor to the reject depository; a series of conveyor means driven at a more rapid rate than said switch conveyor, and normally aligned to receive in succession sheets from said switch conveyor, for conveyance past the end of the last such means to a final receiving station; and means operable under control to elevate the advanced end of any selected conveyor means out of alignment with the preceding such means, to divert downwardly an oncoming sheet to a receiving station beneath the thus-raised conveyor means.

4. A sheet-sorting assembly comprising a driven supply conveyor extending uninterruptedly from a supply source to a reject depository; a switch conveyor driven at a more rapid rate than said supply conveyor, biased into and for return to a normal position wherein it is upwardly inclined from said supply conveyor, to intercept and divert all sheets as they advance; means to depress said switch conveyor, under control, to permit reject sheets to continue along said supply conveyor to the reject depository; a series of conveyor means driven at a more rapid rate than said switch conveyor, and normally aligned to receive in succession sheets from said switch conveyor, for conveyance past the end of the last such means to a final receiving station; means operable under control to elevate the advanced end of any selected conveyor means out of alignment with the preceding such means, to divert downwardly an oncoming sheet to a receiving station beneath the thus-raised conveyor means; and ofi-bearing conveyors beneath each such conveyor means, arranged and driven for transverse removal of sheets there received at a rate more rapid than the rate of feed of the conveyor means thereto,

5. A sheet-sorting assembly comprising a driven supply conveyor extending between a supply source and a reject depository; a switch element shiftable under control between an inoperative position and an intercepting and diverting position, with relation to said supply conveyor; a series of conveyor means each shiftable from a position in alignment with other such means and with the switch element, into a diverting position with respect thereto; and means to effect such shifting, under control, of each of the switch element and the several conveyor means, to primarily sort usable sheets from reject sheets by operation of the switch element, and to secondarily sort the usable sheets into appropriate receiving stations, beneath the several conveyor means, and beyond the last thereof.

' 6. A sheet-sorting assembly comprising a driven supply conveyor extending between a supply source and a reject depository; a switch element shiftable under control between an inoperative position and an intercepting and diverting position, with relation to said supply conveyor; a series of conveyor means each shiftable from a position in alignment with other such means and with the switch element, into a diverting position with respect thereto; and means to effect such shifting, under control, of each of the switch element and the several conveyor means, to primarily sort usable sheets from reject sheets by operation of the switch element, and to secondarily sort the usable sheets into appropriate receiving stations, beneath the several conveyor means, and beyond the last thereof; the drive means for the successive sheet conveyors being arranged and organized to progressively increase the speed of advance of a sheet through the assembly to the final receiving station, to open progressively wider gaps between successive sheets.

7. A sheet-sorting assembly comprising a driven supply conveyor extending from a supply source to a reject depository; a switch element biased into and for return to a normal diverting posi-- tion with relation to said supply conveyor; means to shift said switch element, under control, to an inoperative position, to permit reject sheets to continue along said supply conveyor to the reject depository; a series of conveyor means aligned with each other and with the switch element, biased into and for return to a normal receiving and transferring position, to advance along the series sheets received from the switch element; and means operable, under control, to shift any selected conveyor means from such normal position into a diverting position, to divert a selected advancing sheet.

CURT USCHMANN. ELMER H. JACOBSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 238,220 Davies Mar. 1, 1881 1,227,072 Riley et al. May 22, 1917 1,256,294 Campbell Feb. 12, 1918 1,302,466 Finster et al. Apr. 29, 1919 1,432,086 Plonka Oct. 1'7, 1922 1,812,201 Denner et al June 30, 1931 2,176,784 Bowden Oct. 17, 1939 2,315,003 Martin et al. Mar. 30, 1943 

